The Creator's Mistake
by HW1999
Summary: <html><head></head>Heather wakes up in a cold metal box remembering nothing but her name. She arrives at the Glade and is given a hands on experience of life outside the maze. Then, someone comes up out of the box that she didn't expect to see ever again. NewtxOC. based of book one of The Maze Runner Trilogy</html>
1. Chapter 1

**The Glade **

Disclaimer: I don't own The Maze Runner, any of the characters, plot, ect. However the character Heather in this story is owned by me. The picture that is the cover or what not is take from , I do not own it.

This is the first chapter of my very first _published _fanfiction ever! I'm so excited y'all have no idea!

- Page Break -

Chapter 1 - The Glade

Disclaimer: I don't own The Maze Runner, any of the character, plot, ect. However the character Heather in this story is owned by me. Hope y'all enjoy!

I sat with my back against what felt like cold metal, in a dark empty elevator. I kept my eyes closed as the elevator ascended upward.

Heather.

The name kept flashing across my mind. It was the only thing I could remember. I sat with head between my knees for what felt like years in the darkness, until I saw a bright red light at the top of the shaft I was in. I stood up mesmerized by the light as it moved closer and closer. The box came to a sudden stop throwing me to the ground. I let out a groan as I pushed myself off the ground. A blinding light filled the box and laughter followed it.

"Holy…" a deep voice started before trailing off, "I don't shunkin' believe it."

"What is it, Alby?" asked an accented voice, as a second silhouette stood at the top of the box, "Bloody hell. It's a girl."

"A girl?"

"Is she pretty?"

"Bet she's prettier than you, ya klunk-face."

The two boys jumped down into the box. I put my head between my knees.

This isn't real, I'm going to wake up any second and this will have just been a dream.

I felt like I was going to be sick. A large hand patted me on the shoulder and I looked up to see that it belonged to a strong dark-skinned boy.

He looked down at me as he spoke. "Welcome to The Glade, Greenie. I hope you like it here 'cause there ain't no way back."

My insides began to churn as the severity of the words began to set in. I felt bile rise in my throat and I turned to my right, throwing up food that I didn't remember eating.

I heard some laughs and an, "Ew, dude thats a load of klunk."

I looked up when I was finished wrenching to see a pair of shoes covered in what had just been in my stomach. I winced as I slowly followed the legs up to reveal a tall, muscular boy with disheveled blonde hair and a grimace on his face.

I looked down as he spoke. "What the hell you slinthead." I could feel my face burn with embarrassment and my eyes well with tears. "Why'd you have to go and say that? The poor thing looks terrified."

I looked up with tears in my eyes. The blonde wasn't angry with me, his comment was directed toward the dark-skinned boy.

"I don't give a klunk if she's a girl, everyone gets the same welcome, no matter what," he replied with a frown.

"So? Doesn't do any of them any good to have those be the first words they ever hear? You made Chuck klunk his pants last month remember?"

Klunk? Slinthead? Chuck? Who were these people and what kind of words were they speaking?

"I don't care. It's been that way since the very beginning and we aren't about to change it now." The dark-skinned boy's frown had become a scowl as his eyes narrowed.

"Alright Alby. Just consider it, you shank," said the blonde patting him on the shoulder.

Their entire conversation I sat still with my head pressed up against the hard metal wall looking up at the sky, trying to hold in the tears that begged to fall from my eyes.

I didn't realize that the bickering had stopped until I felt two hands on each of my shoulders hauling me to a standing position and then pulling me up out of the room I had been in. I didn't try to fight them but I didn't help either, I was too tired, too confused.

They sat me down on the lush green grass and I began to take everything in with wide eyes. I had just been hauled from a small black box. At least fifty boys, ranging from their early-teens to around eighteen, like the dark-skinned boy that had pulled me from the box, surrounded me. I looked at each face but I didn't recognize anyone. I felt a knot forming in my throat making it hard to breath and the tears once again began to well behind my eyelids which were squeezed tightly shut.

I felt someone pat my shoulder awkwardly and I looked up at them through the tears that had finally spilled onto my cheeks. It was the blonde boy that I had thrown up on. "Hey Greenie, it's gonna be alright. Just calm down, it's normal to not remember anything." He spoke with a British accent.

How was it normal to not remember anything? Does that mean that they don't remember anything either?

A different boy crouched down in front of me. He looked about 17, had short black hair, green eyes and the nose the size of a small potato, "Remember anything Greenie?" I shook my head and looked away biting my lip, embarrassed by the tears on my face. "How about a name?"

I thought back to my trip in the box. Heather.

"My name's Heather," I looked over to the blonde boy who nodded in approval. They were the first words I had ever spoken, as far as I could remember, and the voice that came from my lips sounded foreign to me.

The boy crouching in front of me extended a large hand toward me which I grasped as he pulled me to my feet. "I'm Gally. Welcome to The Glade." (P.S. Gally is 17 in my fanfiction not 15-16 like in The Maze Runner.)

- Page Break -

I looked around to see that the blonde was pulling off his shoes and socks with a grimace on his face. "Sorry," I said while scratching the back of my neck and looking down.

"Eh, it's not your fault. The bloody shank shouldn't have scared ya like that. The name's Newt." he extended a hand, he has a cute accent that I hadn't heard any of the other gladers use.

I looked down at it, it no doubt still had some throw up on it, "Thanks Newt, but I, uh, would rather keep the remainder of my breakfast in my stomach."

He let out a chuckle. "Good that."

Just then the dark-skinned boy put his hand on Newt's shoulder. They had a quick whispered conversation, their eyes staying on me the entire time.

"Greenie," he began, addressing me, "I'm Alby, leader of the Gladers. The Gladers being the people who live in the Glade." I let the confused expression fall from my face. "Normally, I would give you a tour but I have some, uh, important stuff to do right now," as he spoke a horrific shriek echoed across the glade, causing me to wince, "so Newt will show you around the Glade and you'll get the full tour first thing tomorrow. Sound good to you?"

I nodded, but didn't speak, I was still afraid of Alby from our first encounter. He turned away walking over to a group of wooden buildings.

"Where's he going?" I asked Newt.

"To the homestead."

"Is that where the scream came from?"

"No more questions, Greenie, you can ask all the questions you want on your tour tomorrow. Like Alby would answer any of them though," I heard him mutter under his breath.

"You hungry at all?"

I thought for a moment, "Yeah. Considering that the contents of my stomach are now all over your shoes." I let out a laugh, it sounded weird, but in a good way.

"Slim it with that klunk won't you. A little disgusting don't you think?" I laughed before pausing for a moment and then letting out another laugh, louder than the one before, earning a quizzical look from Newt.

"Sorry, I've just never heard my own laugh before." The statement was so bizarre that it made me laugh again but this time Newt joined in so I wasn't laughing alone.

"Alright, let's go to the Kitchen and grab some food." Newt put his hand on my back in a brotherly way. This thought nearly brought me to tears. Did I have a brother? Did I have a boy where I came from that cared about me? I shook the thoughts from my head and walked with Newt to the kitchen.

- Page Break -

"Hey Frypan, this is Heather," he gave me a small nod, "Got anything good cooking for us tonight?" The cook "Frypan" had large amounts of curly black hair and he couldn't have be older than 16. The clothes he wore were covered in food stains and it looked like he was in desperate need of a shower.

"Nothing special, I'll give you the usual," he spoke with a higher voice than I expected for such a large man, "What does the girl want?"

"Um..." I trail off not knowing what I wanted.

"She'll just have the same thing as me." I smiled up a Newt gratefully.

Before long we both had a plate with a sandwich on it and a water bottle. I followed Newt to one of the table in the corner where Gally and two other boys I didn't recognize sat.

"Hey Clint, Jeff," said Newt inclining his head at each of them as he said their names, "this is Heather." He leaned over to me and whispered, "they're the med-jacks." I gave him a quizzical look. "The doctors." I nodded and flashed them a quick smile before taking a large bite out of my sandwich. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I had begun to eat. I devoured the entire thing before looking up to see the four of them gaping at me.

"What?"

"Nothing, I've just never seen a girl eat so fast," replied Gally with a grin.

I kicked at him playfully from under the table. "I doubt you've ever seen a girl eat before."

He nodded, "Yeah, that's the weird part about you showing up. We've never gotten a girl from the box before."

"Oh well, Greenie, I guess you'll just have to get used to having a girl around, start acting more like gentlemen." As soon as the words had left my lips all of them tensed around me.

"Why'd you call me a Greenie?" The hostility in Gally's voice startled me.

"What?" I looked at them panicked. "I thought that was what people with green eyes were called?"

Next to me, Newt began to crack up. Jeff and Clint nearly fell out of their seats they were laughing so hard. I felt my cheeks burning bright red from embarrassment.

Gally lifted his head off of the table wiping a tear from his crinkled eyes. "You. didn't. actually. think. that. did. you?" he asked between laughs. I just stared at him blankly.

"A Greenie is the newest shank out of the box. You don't even have green eyes." The comment started another fit of laughter.

I elbowed Newt in the side and he looked up, "If my eyes aren't green then what color are they?" He leaned closer to my face to get a better look. I felt myself getting lost in his deep brown eyes.

"They're blue," he replied with a smile, "you have long blonde hair, and look, sixteenish. If you were wondering." I looked down at my hair, it was indeed blonde and wavy and went down to just beneath my chest.

"Yeah I'd say about sixteen," nodded Gally.

I smiled at the two of them, "Thanks." I let out a loud yawn.

"Alright lets go get your sleeping mat and I can show you where you're going to sleep," said Newt before standing up and walking out of the kitchen, I noticed that he walked with a slight limp but brushed the thought away. I waved goodbye to Gally before scampering out after Newt.

- Page Break -

We had already grabbed a sleeping mat and a sleeping bag from the supplies that had come up with me in the box and were standing right outside the wooden buildings that Newt had called the "homestead" earlier.

"This is where you'll sleep I guess," he said motioning out to the grassy area where nearly forty other sleeping bags had already been set up.

"Let me get this straight, you want me to sleep outside with a bunch of guys that haven't seen a girl in who knows how long? You've got to be kidding me." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Um, I mean, I guess you could sleep in my room and I could share with Alby if you wanted to."

I looked up at him as he scratched the back of his neck. "You'd do that for me?"

"Yeah," he replied with a smile, "the first night is always the worst, you'll probably wake everyone up with your screaming anyway."

A loud boom echoed across the Glade.

"What was that?" I asked him, startled.

He just pointed over at the walls. I let my mouth hang open in shock, the huge stone walls were sliding along the ground, shutting us in. Or keeping something out.

"They do that every night you know," he answered my unasked question with a shrug. "You get used to it, I guess."

I followed him up a flight of wooden steps and along a small hallway before he pushed open a door that lead to a small room.

"It's not much, but it's better than nothing I guess," he scratched the back of his neck, a motion that I'd come to realize meant he was embarrassed. "You can sleep on the mattress if you want, I'll take the sleeping bag to Alby's room."

I sat down on the mattress letting my feet dangle above the floor, "I'll be just down the hallway if you need anything alright Heather?"

I nodded. "Thanks Newt."

I lay down on the mattress and closed my eyes letting sleep overtake me.

- Page Break -

There was a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes standing before me holding a limp boy in her arms. I couldn't remember who she was but I knew that I hated her. "He's going up and there's nothing you can do to stop it, you stupid girl," she said with a laugh showing her perfect white teeth. The boy was slumped in her arms, face toward the ground, but I could see that he was older, 17 maybe. The only feature I could see was a head of sweaty brown hair.

Panic was all I felt. He couldn't go. He couldn't leave me. I needed him. "Move girl, and let me send him up. You know it's for the best. We have to find the cure."

The Cure. It sounded so familiar but I couldn't remember.

"Move now!" She screamed at me. I looked around, I had to do something to stop her. There was a black elevator behind me and I knew what I had to do. I sprinted into the elevator smashing my fist into the blue button on the wall.

I heard the woman screaming through the walls of the box. White gas began to fill the box and I took one last look at the woman holding the limp boy. She let out a frustrated scream and then, noticing that I was watching, she grabbed a pocket knife off the table next to her. I watched wide eyes as she dragged the blade across his arm, leaving a trail of blood as she did.

"No!" I screamed pounding my fists against the glass. I had been trying to protect him, not get him hurt. The gas began to fill my lungs and take over my body. I began to slide down the glass doors, "No. No. No." my body began to shake as I sobbed. I looked back out the glass. The woman wore a malicious smile. Then everything was black.

- Page Break -

I awoke in a cold sweat, tears streaming down my face as sobs racked my body. Someone opened the door and grabbed me from behind as I thrashed against them. "Let go of me. I won't let you hurt him! I need him!" The woman's face was all I could see as I squeezed my eyes shut. A new pair of hands grabbed my legs and all I could see was a huge dark figure.

"Hey shhhhhh," I continued to thrash, "Heather, listen to me," the warm voice woke me from my daze and I sat still.

"That's better, now isn't it?" I felt myself relaxing into Newt's bare chest as he held me and looking into Alby's dark brown eyes as he carefully released my legs.

I looked away from Alby and turned my face into Newt's chest, "I tried to save him, but as long as she has him he's not safe," I sobbed.

"Calm down, you're safe here." He sounded tired as he spoke, but those weren't the words I wanted to hear.

"I know I'm safe," the tears continued to roll off my cheeks, "but she still has him. She'll kill him." As soon as the words had left my lips I knew that they were true, there was no way I would ever see that boy again. I cried even harder my body shaking as I sobbed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alby's dark figure get up and leave the room.

"It was just a dream, it wasn't real." I looked back up at Newt. It felt so real though. Like I had been there; like I knew her and the boy that she held.

We stayed that for what seemed like forever until my sobs had turned into sniffles. "I'm going to go back to Alby's room now," I felt Newt's arms leave my waist.

"No! Please don't leave me," I begged as tears filled my eyes again, he made me feel safe.

"Ok, it's ok, I'm right here. I won't go anywhere," he said, wrapping his arms back around my waist with a tired sigh.

"Promise?" I asked, knowing I sounded like a scared child.

"Promise," he replied, as he stroked my hair and I relaxed into his chest.

Sleep overtook me once again, but this time there were no nightmares and no dreams.

**-Note- (lol it won't let me put _ there for a page break, anyways...)**

Thank you guys for reading my first published chapter ever! I will read all the reviews that you post and will take into consideration any ideas as well.

Also, I'm looking for someone to proof-read my chapters before I post them. If you are interested in helping me out just PM me, I would really appreciate it because I kinda suck at grammar ;)

Love y'all!

~HW


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own The Maze Runner or any of the characters in this story but Heather.

**-Note- (lol it still won't let me put _ there for a page break, anyways...)**

**nothingsimple: Thank you so much for being my first reviewer ever! You have no idea how excited I am about this story. Especially since it's my first ****_published _****fanfiction!**

**-Note-**

I awoke to a stirring beside me. I turned over to see the sleeping face of Newt next to me, one arms still draped over my waist. I felt a furious blush creep onto my face, I had never slept in the same bad as a boy before, at least from what I remembered I hadn't. I slowly removed his arm and creeped out of bed being sure not to wake him. I had kept him up all night, the least I could do was let him sleep in. I quickly opened the door and stepped out into the hallway only to be knocked straight onto my butt by Alby's body.

He extended his hand down to help me up. "I was just about to come get you."

"Thanks." I flashed him a quick smile before taking his hand as he pulled me to my feet. I followed him outside the homestead and we walked towards the massive walls that surrounded The Glade.

"First rule and most important rule, Greenie, nobody, under any circumstance, is allowed out of these wall, unless you're a runner. Got it?"

I nodded before asking, "What's outside of the walls?"

"A giant maze."

"A maze?" The idea sounded so absurd it made me laugh out loud.

"What lives out there ain't nothing to laugh about, Greenie ," his voice was cold and hard as he spoke and it sent a chill down my spine.

"What lives out there?" My voice was a quiet whisper. He beckoned me towards a crack in the wall where he stood. I followed, staying close to him as he pointed to something through the crack. I heard the whirring of machinery and a clicking sound before I saw it. It being the grotesque, bulbous creature, with metal spikes sticking out of it at odd angles that contracted and expanded as it moved along the corridor.

A glance was enough to understand that it wasn't a friendly beast.

"What was that thing?" I asked, not even trying to mask the fear in my voice.

"We call them Grievers. That's why you don't want to go outside the walls, got it?"

"Who made them? Do they ever come inside the wall? What happens if you do get stuck out at night?" the questions spilled from my mouth before I could stop them.

"We don't know who made them. They only come out at night and you don't get stuck outside the walls and live to tell about it, and if you do get stung by them," the word stung makes a shiver go down my spine, "then you end up like the screaming boy from last night."

I felt the same coldness surround my body at his ominous words and reminded quiet looking out the crack into the dark maze. A small red light flashed on in the maze and I pressed my eye against the crack to get a closer look. It was a small beetle with the letters W.I.C.K.E.D. smeared across its silver body in what looked like blood.

"Alby, what's that?" He put one eye against the crack.

"We call them beetle blades. It's how the shuck creators watch us."

His comment caught me off guard. "You mean we're being watch?" I asked in a furious whisper. Now self conscious that it could hear me.

"Yup, these things have been here ever since I arrived in the box."

I didn't understand how that answered my question but I didn't push any farther. The sun had risen now and we began to walk back toward the center of the Glade.

"This is the Box," he said motioning to the black box that I had come out of the previous day, "Every week it comes up with supplies, and every month it comes up with a Newbie. This month that was you, Greenie."

"But who puts the food in? Who put me in it?"

"Slim it with the questions Greenie. We don't know squat about the box or where it comes from. We just accept the things they send us."

He turned around facing the Glade as he spoke again, "There are four sections of the Glade: the Gardens, the Blood House, the Homestead, and the Deadheads." As he spoke he pointed to a different section of the Glade. "The Gardens are where we grow all our food. Water gets pumped up from the ground so we can grow our crops. It never rains here, never. The Blood House is where we grow and kill the animals that we have. The Homestead isn't used for much during the day, mainly sleep and gatherings." He pause for a moment then turned away.

"You never said what the Deadhead was," I reminded him.

"Deadhead ain't much, Greenie. There's a graveyard in the back corner beyond those thick trees there. You can go there to sit and hang out or whatever." He cleared his throat clearly uncomfortable with the topic.

I began to feel uneasy. Why did they need graveyard?

We began to walk towards the section of land he had called the Gardens. "Every day for the next two weeks you'll be working under a different keeper performing a different job. When the trial period is up you'll be assigned a permanent job. Today you'll be working as a track-hoe." I nodded, even though I had no idea what a track-hoe was, I didn't want to interrupt him again. "That's Zart, he's The Keeper of the Gardens and will be overseeing your training today." He nodded over to a tall black haired boy with broad shoulders and a bored expression on his face.

"Zart, this is the Newbie, Heather."

"Welcome to the Gardens, Greenie. We'll put you straight to work."

He wasn't lying. I spent the next couple of hours pulling up weeds in the gardens. It wasn't a fun job, at the end of two hours I was hot, sweaty, and in desperate need of a shower.

"Hey Zart, can't we take a break?" I asked, sweat dripping off the end of my nose.

"Not yet, Greenie. You can take a break at noon, for lunch," he replied, with a scowl.

I let out a sigh before returning to the weeds. A blaring alarm sounded from the center of the glade. I crouched to the ground covering my ears, it sounded like a death siren. I looked up to see Zart with a confused expression on his face. All around me Gladers were running towards the box. I dropped my hands from my ears and sprinted after them. They didn't seem panicked, just confused and curious.

I saw Newt in the crowd of boys and I grabbed his arm to get his attention. "Newt! What's going on? What does the alarm mean?" I yelled over the blaring noise.

"It means that a Newbie is coming up in the box," he yelled back.

"What?! I thought a Newbie only came up once every month," I replied, thinking back to Alby's tour.

The whirling of gears could be heard as the alarm suddenly shut off.

"Yeah, I thought that too."

- Page Break -

The Box made it to the top with a loud clicking noise, signalling its arrival. Alby and Newt pulled open the chain doors and looked inside.

"What is that?" Newt asked, looking over at Alby.

"I don't know you shank, go in there and see."

I saw Newt's tall figure disappear into the Box. His head popped out of the Box and his eyes stared at me as he spoke, "there's a crate and it's got your bloody name on it."

I felt my head getting dizzy. A crate with my name on it. Impossible.

"Bring it out," I commanded.

Alby jumped in and helped Newt pull the huge crate out.

I stepped forward to see it better. The crate was 7 feet long, 4 feet wide and 4 feet tall. I took another step closer, on it was a piece of paper with my name on it. I reached for it but someone caught my hand. I looked up to see Newt shaking his head at me.

"I wouldn't. The same people that sent you up sent whatever is in that box. It can't be good."

I looked at him and then thought for a second, "You said that bell meant a Newbie was coming up right?" he nodded at me. "Don't you think that a person could be in there." I saw his eyes widen.

I grabbed the note off the top of the box and read it.

Heather,

You didn't stop me from sending him. His condition is your fault, you made me do this. I had no other choice. We have to find the Cure. There is nothing more important. I would recommend opening the box if you want to try to save him, but that is up to you. You already tried to save him once and did more harm than good, the second time could always be the same. If you decide to open it you are the only one who can face whatever is in there. If anyone tries to help, they will be killed.

At the bottom of the page was a single instruction.

To open the box put your right thumb on the scanner.

My head began to swim with questions. Who is him? Who sent him? Should I open the box?

"What's on the note?" asked Newt from beside me. I shoved the note into his chest and I began to search along the crate for the scanner.

"Here." Newt gave Alby the note before turning to me. "Can't we at least discuss this before you do something stupid."

I could feel the anger bubbling up inside me. "She said I had to open the box if I wanted to save him. If I don't try whoever's in there is going to die."

He nodded understanding my reasoning, "You shanks get back. You can't help her, she has to do this on her own."

I heard some complaints but they backed up to form a circle. I looked back at Newt and he nodded, showing his consent. I place my thumb on the scanner and backed away slowly. The crate collapsed on itself.

I let out a scream.

Inside was a boy around seventeen covered in blood and holding a knife in his hands. He didn't seem to notice that anything had changed about his surroundings, he just stared at the knife in his hands, mesmerized by the object, after a second of looking at it he slowly ran the blade along his arm, drawing a line of blood behind it. Once he was done he looked up and smiled, then looking me straight in the eye he placed the knife against his wrist so the that blade was facing towards the inside of his elbow. I let out a sharp gasp, that would be a fatal cut.

"Don't do it," my voice was thick with emotion, I recognized him, he was the boy from my dream, but what was his name?

I saw him begin to push down and blood begin to form beneath the blade.

"Thomas." The name came out in a gasp. I saw his hand falter as our eyes met again, his smile faded.

"Don't do it, Thomas." I was trying my best to not break down and sob, I finally remembered something and the boy was about to kill himself.

He froze and his eyes glazed over. I'd seen that look before, somewhere else, he was being controlled. "Thomas, you've got to fight it, you can't let them control you." Again the blade faltered but he pushed it back against his arm again.

"Thomas, give me the knife," I demanded, there was no response this time.

I tried again, "Thomas, give Heather the knife." It sounded so absurd to be talking to him in the third person but names had worked once before and I didn't have any reason to not try.

The mist left his eyes and for a brief moment I saw brown eyes that I used to know. Memories began to fill my head but I pushed them away. They didn't matter right now, Thomas was all that mattered. He threw the knife five feet to his right and I let out a sigh until I saw the mist return.

I dove for the knife the same time as he did but I was quicker. I grabbed the blade of the knife only to be crushed by his body. I felt the blade cut open the palm of my hand as he ripped it from my grip. He sat up on top of me placing the knife against my neck. I saw Newt running at him out of the corner of my eye.

"Don't come any closer or I'll kill her," Thomas demanded not moving a muscle to see that Newt had been running towards us. A beetle blade lay watching in the tall grass beside us. It was the creators who were controlling him. Newt stopped running, watching helplessly from a distance.

I could feel the blood trickling down my throat as he pushed the blade down harder.

"Thomas don't do this." Every breath brought the blade farther down on my throat. "Thomas, it's Heather, you've got to fight it." I could see the inward struggle in his eyes, he didn't know who to believe, me or the person controlling him. I felt the knife fall into the grass beside me and his grip on me loosen.

It was all I needed. I lunged for the knife, grabbing it by the handle. I felt his body on top of mine again and I brought my elbow back to his face, causing him to roll back on the grass groaning. I pinned him face down to the grass pushing the blade against the back of his neck.

"You won't do it." The voice that came from his lips didn't sound human, like he was trying to keep the words from falling from his lips. The creators seemed to be challenging me, forcing me to choose the better of the two evils. Kill him or be killed.

I saw it as he struggled beneath me, a flash of silver metal in his right bicep. I pinned the arm down on the ground with my knee and drove the knife into his arm digging the chip of metal out of his skin. It came out of his arm, embedded in a large piece of skin and followed by large amounts of blood.

I felt his breath catch beneath me as he let out a loud groan, digging his head into the ground.

It was over. I had beaten the Creators.

I saw the beetle blade watching from only feet away. Looking straight at it, I imagined the blonde woman from my nightmare watching me. "You can't control me," my voice shook with rage, "You can't control me anymore." It scuttled off out of the group of boys and I let myself fall off Thomas' back and into the soft grass.

Everything hurt, I let out a groan similar to Thomas beside me. Newt knelt next to me in the grass as I lay there staring up at the sky as tears fell from my eyes. What was this place? What had I done to be put here?

His strong arms wrapped around me as I sobbed into his chest. He didn't say anything just ran his hand through my blonde hair, stained red with blood, as I cried. I could hear the med-jack talking to Newt as he held me but I buried my face farther into his chest. I didn't care that I needed medical attention, I just wanted Newt to hold me like that for forever, so I could forget everything.

- Page Break -

I sat on a mattress in the homestead as Jeff finished the stitches that ran across the palm of my right hand. He wrapped the stitches in a torn cloth before turning to look up at my face. "How'd you know his name?"

The question caught me off guard. I looked down at Thomas who lay sleeping on the mattress that I sat on. They had washed the blood off his body before wrapping all the cuts on his arms in the same fabric that they had used on my hand. Clint was sitting next to him stitching up the gaping wound where the silver chip used to be in his arm. I looked at his face, he looked peaceful with his eyes closed and his curly brown hair resting neatly against his forehead. I brushed a stray piece back into place with my left hand. I felt a strange affectionate towards him for some reason.

"I don't really know how I knew it, I just… did I guess," I replied with a frown, finally answering his question.

He nodded, "You're good to go, just be careful with it. We're almost out of thread for the stitches, so don't open it again"

"Alright." I smiled at him, "and can you come and get me when he wakes up."

"Sure thing," he returned my smile, "you'll be the first one to know."

I walked out of the room and into the small hallway of the Homestead. I opened Newt's door as quietly as I could expecting him to already be asleep. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed with his face buried in his hands. I took one of his hands in my own as I sat down.

"Hey."

"Hey." His smile was weary as he looked up at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, something was clearly bothering him.

"Nothing," he said with a sigh.

"If it's about what happened with Thomas," I felt my voice catch in my throat and tears fill my eyes as I remembered what happened.

"Hey," he pulled my face up so that I was looking into his brown eyes, "we'll talk about it tomorrow alright," I nodded, smiling gratefully through my tears, "but I'm not going anywhere tonight."

I looked up at him with big eyes, "Promise?"

"Promise."

He spread the sleeping mat out on the floor beside the mattress where I lay and I let the steady sound of his breathing lull me to sleep.

**- Note -**

Thank you guys for reading. I will read all the reviews that you post and will take into consideration any ideas that you post.

I'm looking for someone to proof read my chapters before I post them. If you are interested in helping me out just PM me I would really appreciate it because I kinda suck at grammar ;)

Love y'all!

~HW


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey Yall. Im so sorry I haven't posted in forever. My volleyball team had conference this week plus a ton of homework so I wasn't able to get a chapter done until today. Again super sorry about that. A special thanks to owlsrawsome for being my awesome proof-reader. Hope yall enjoy!

I pressed my thumb to the scanner and watched as the box fell apart. There was a boy in the box covered in blood holding a knife in his hands and his blonde hair stained red with blood. I gasped, it was Newt running the knife along his arms.

Out of nowhere, Thomas tackled Newt to the ground, limbs tangling with each other as the boys fought on the ground. I watched as Newt pinned Thomas to the ground pressing the knife to his neck. I tried to scream but no noise came out, I couldn't move, I couldn't breath. Blood splattered the grass as Newt slit Thomas' throat, his head rolled to the side as his vacant eyes found my own.

Newt looked up at me with a victorious smile on his lips. Then he pressed the blade against his wrist slitting it up to the inside of his elbow. He fell back onto Thomas' body, their blood mingling together and their faces empty of life. They were dead. It was only then that I began to scream. I screamed and thrashed but masked faces were grabbing my body pulling me away from them.

I opened my eyes to see the face of the boy who had just killed Thomas. I didn't have time to react before my body acted of its own accord. My knee found his groin and my foot kicked him square in the chest as he fell to the ground, letting out a groan as he rolled on the floor. I was still being held by someone else behind me.

"Let go," I managed through gritted teeth.

"No, Heather, calm down." I looked up to see Gally's green eyes and stopped struggling. He released me, "want to talk about it?"

I looked back down at Newt who looked back up at me with brown eyes. "No." I turned away from both of them, not bothering to offer Newt an apology. I couldn't shake the feeling that the nightmare had been real, that he'd killed Thomas.

I walked down the hallway to the room where Thomas was sleeping. Jeff sat in a chair across the room, sleeping. I lifted Thomas' head to look at his neck, there was no cut on his throat. I let out a sigh of relief and slid down the wall, putting my head between my knees.

- Page Break -

I was awoken by someone shaking my shoulders. Panicked, I opened my mouth to let out a scream. Jeff's dark hand clapped over my mouth before whispering, "he's awake." I stood up slowly to see brown eyes staring back up at me.

"Hey," I smiled down at Thomas.

"Who are you?" I felt my heart drop into the pit of my stomach, he couldn't remember anymore than I could.

"You don't remember my name?" I could feel my eyes begin to well with tears and I looked away.

"Wait its um… uh…" he stuttered, obviously not wanting to upset me. His eyes then settled on my face, "Heather." I felt a warm feeling spread through my body as a huge smile filled my face.

I nodded at him, "Where am I, Heather?"

"This is the Glade," I motioned out the window, "Newt or Alby will probably have to give you a tour of it, since I'm still learning about it too."

"Why am I here? What happened to me? How did you save me?" I saw his eyes eager for answers. I opened my mouth to answer them, after all it was only two days ago that I had come out of the box with the same questions, but I was interrupted by a deep voice.

"Easy there, shank," Alby sauntered into the room, followed closely by Newt, who refused to make eye contact with me, "you'll find out everything soon. Come on Heather, you've got work to do." He turned to leave the room.

"You can't be serious." I held up my right hand, still wrapped in the white cloth that covered the stitches.

"She really shouldn't be working with an injury like that," Jeff piped up from beside me.

"Fine." Alby glared at Thomas, no doubt because it was he who gave me the cut. "You can train to be a runner today then, don't have to use your hands to do that." Out of the corner of my eye I could see Newt tense at his words. "I have to take Greenie over here on the tour." I opened my mouth to complain, "Are his legs hurt, shank?" I shook my head. "Good that. Get up, Greenie."

Alby walked out the door, calling over his shoulder, "Be out of this house in thirty second or I'll throw you to the Grievers."

The word Grievers sent a chill down my spine and I quickly hauled Thomas from the bed. When he reached the doorway, he threw me a concerned look over his shoulder.

"Don't ask any questions, and try not to make him angry. Alright?" It was the best advice I could give him. I wish that someone had said that to me before I had went on my tour. He gave me a small nod then turned to the door, hesitating. I patted him on the back, "Good luck, shank."

I turned around to see Newt sitting on the window ledge where I had just stood. He looked straight at the ground, still avoiding eye contact with me.

"Newt." He didn't look at me.

"Newt." This time his name came out as more of a plea, begging for him to look at me.

"Newt!" I was growing frustrated, a knot forming in my stomach. Why did he make me feel like this? I had only known him for three days.

He finally looked up at me, his brown eyes brimming with tears.

"No, no, no," I muttered under my breath before running over to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him as tightly as I could. I felt my own tears splash down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." My tears continued to fall as I felt his shoulders shaking as I held him.

"I just don't understand," he pulled in a shaky breath through gritted teeth, "why you left me, after you attacked me, you didn't even offer an apology, and then," he pulled in another shaky breath, "you gave me a look," tears splashed onto his cheeks, "like you hated me."

I thought back to that moment this morning and squeeze my eyes shut, wishing I could undo what I had done. "No, I dont hate you. I swear I don't hate you."

He looked back up at me, his eyes still red from crying. "Prove it."

Prove it. The words echoed through my mind before I understood them. I looked into his brown eyes before lowering my gaze.

"Fine." He stood up as one final tear rolled onto his cheek, brushing against me as he walked toward the door.

"Wait," I caught his arm as he was about to leave. He stayed facing the door, no longer making eye contact with me.

"What?" He muttered under his breath, staring at the floor.

I grabbed his hand and he turned his head farther away.

"Newt." My voice was surprisingly soft as he finally looked down at me with his brown eyes. It was now or never.

I stood up carefully on my tiptoes and pressed my lips against his. They only stayed there for a brief moment before I pulled away to see his reaction. He stood still, with his eyes closed and mouth slightly opened. Then he placed his forehead against my own and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him as a grin spreading across his face. I reached up and wiped the tears off his face before looking down, blushing, positive that my face mirrored the look on his. He pressed his lips to mine again and I let myself savor the sensation. We both pulled away breathless and I looked up at him, "Convinced?"

"Yeah," He let out a sigh. "You better get to the runners before Alby comes back and tries to skin you." He tried to smile but it ended up looking more like a grimace.

"I'll be okay Newt." The words weren't only to assure him but also myself.

"Yeah I know. You'll be with Minho, he's a great guy. Just be careful, okay?"

"Promise."

- Page Break -

Minho was a tall Asian boy with short cut black hair. He stood leaning against the wall as he waited for me.

"Finally," he let out an exasperated sigh as he extended a hand, "Minho, Keeper of the Runners."  
>"Hey, sorry I'm late, Minho. I was, uh, just talking to Newt." I felt a small blush creep onto my cheeks as I spoke and he just gave me a grin.<p>

"Just don't make a habit of it, Greenie." He threw me a pack which I slung over my shoulders.

"Heather," I corrected him, "Thomas is the Greenie now."

He nodded, "Alright Heather, we're going to be running out in this shuck-maze today, so, uh, just try to keep up. Good that?"

"Good that." With that he took off at a run into the maze with me following closely at his heels.

Right. Left. Right. Right. Left.

I felt myself smiling as I kept track of the route we were running in my head. It felt good to run, to feel the breeze in my hair and the burn of my muscles. We would stop every so often and I would repeat the turns we had made to Minho as he drew them down on a piece of paper. We stopped as the maze walls began to thin out and we were standing in an open area with another tall wall surrounding it.

"This is the end of the maze," Minho said heaving a large breath of air into his lungs, "You tired?"

"I could keep going if we needed to," I replied honestly.

He sat down, taking his pack from his shoulders and grabbing a sandwich and water bottle that he must have put in there. I sat down, fishing around in my pack until I found the same supplies. We ate in silence until Minho asked, "So, what were you and Newt talking about that made you late?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively as he spoke.

"Nothing." I looked away as I felt heat rising in my cheeks.

"Right, nothing." He let out a chuckle. "He's one of my best friends, if you don't tell me, I'll get it out of the shank."

"One of his best friends? How come I never met you until today then?" I asked

"'Cause of this shucked up job. You run, map, sleep, and repeat." He leaned back, running his fingers through his short hair.

"So if I became a runner I wouldn't have time to hang out with the other gladers?" My mind had wandered to Newt. I enjoyed running over all the other jobs that I had completed so far but if it meant being away from Newt I wasn't sure that it was the right choice.

"Depends on how fast you can run the maze. I just have to stay in the map room at night to try to find a way out, so that's why you haven't met me yet."

"You think the maze is the way out?" I asked.

"Why else would it be here?"

I shrugged, "Couldn't you make a ladder or something and just climb up that wall?"

He shook his head, "It's made of smooth granite, there's no way to climb it and no ladder we can make could ever be that tall. Plus, I doubt that half of the people in the Glade could make it this far in one night."

"I must be doing good then," I said with a light laugh.

"Yeah, you're doing pretty damn good for a Newbie."

"So you think I could be a runner?" I asked him, hopeful.

"Yeah definitely. When we get back I'll go straight to Alby and demand that he make you a runner immediately."

"I doubt that Alby will like to take orders from you," I retorted.

"You scared of that pipsqueak? Ya freakin' Newbies gotta learn."

"I'm just trying to survive more than a week here." I replied with a laugh.

"Alright, well in that case we better head back." He stood up, flinging his pack over his shoulders and we took off.

We hadn't been running for more than thirty minutes when he froze in front of me and I smashed my face into his back. "Ouch," I said, rubbing my nose. He didn't say anything, just placed a finger to his lips and pointed upward with his other hand. The look on his face scared me and I immediately shut up.

I followed his finger upward to see a Griever clinging to the wall 75 feet above our heads. My eyes widened, I thought that Grievers only came out at night. It tried to scurry up the wall but its movements were awkward, like it was hurt. Suddenly it fell from the cliff. I let out a scream as Minho tackled me out of the way. He covered my body with his as the Griever hit the ground behind us, the force sending little bits of metal from its body. I scramble off the ground and then reached down to help Minho stand. He reached up, wincing as I pulled him to his feet.

"Let me see your back," I demanded.

"No, I'm fine."

"Minho." There was a warning tone in my voice.

He turned around and I lifted up his shirt. His back was very toned but that wasn't what I was looking at. There was a small piece of metal now imbedded in his right shoulder.

"Ok, hold still. This is probably going to hurt." I grabbed the piece of metal and pulled, he let out a groan which became a loud yell as I pulled harder. I winced as I tried to use my injured hand more than I should've. The metal shard finally came out of his skin followed by a large amount of blood. I placed my palm against the wound to try to stop the bleeding.

"Do you have medical tape in your pack?" He let out a groan and nod in response. I opened his pack with one hand and blindly searched for the medical tape. There. I pulled the roll from his pack and began to wrap the wound. Once I was done I stood back. I had wrapped the majority of his right shoulder, the tape winding from his back, across his chest, and then to his back again. He sat down breathing heavily.

"Don't go dying on me shank." I said with a smile.

"You can't get rid of me that easily," he tried to smile back but it was more of a grimace.

"So you think that things dead?" I asked, nodding toward the crumpled Griever.

"If it wasn't, then we would be dead," he replied. He stood up with a grunt, "We better be going, the walls are closing soon."

"How soon?" I asked him, suddenly worried.

"Shit." He muttered under his breath. "We got 15 minutes."

He reached down to grab his pack. "Leave it here. It'll only slow us down, we can come back tomorrow." He nodded and we took off at a sprint.

My legs ached with every step that I took and my lungs felt like they were on fire. I could hear Minho's heavy breathing from beside me as we continued to run. We had to be close now. I heard the boom that meant the walls were closing. I pushed myself harder, willing my legs to go faster. We only had 30 second before the walls closed and we were dead. Minho began to slow down.

"Come on!" I yelled through gritted teeth, not bothering to slow down myself. Another left turn. I saw it then, the maze walls slowly closing at the end of the passage. I could hear Minho's pounding footsteps close behind me as I threw myself into overdrive. I could hear the boys screaming for us to run faster from the other side of the wall. Keep running, I willed my legs as we got closer. The walls were almost shut.

"Come on!" Newt's scream echoed through my mind and I pushed myself harder than I thought possible. I flung myself through the walls turning in midair to grab Minho's shirt and pull him through with me; the walls closing shut behind us.

We lay sprawled out on the grass trying to catch our breaths. I heard Minho sit up slowly but I couldn't catch my breath. I felt myself hyperventilating and I squeezed my eyes shut.

"She can't breath!" I heard Minho scream from beside me.

I was flipped over on the grass and my arms pinned above my head. "Hold them here." I heard Clint's distinct voice order someone. My head was the tilted back and my mouth opened. "Deep breaths," Clint ordered. I complied heaving air into my empty lungs, finding that my airway had been opened again. After awhile I felt my breathing begin to even out and my heart rate begin to slow.

"I'm good," I said with a sigh, opening my eyes and standing up. As soon as I was on my feet my body was crushed by someone else. I looked up to see Newt with his eyes squeezed shut, holding me as close to him as possible. His tears spilled onto his cheeks as he placed a harsh kiss on my lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back, ignoring the fact that the other Gladers were watching.

"I am never letting you go back into that shuck-maze again. I thought I'd bloody lost you." He whispered after he pulled away from the kiss.

I just put my head on his chest and let him hold me.

"Nothing going on eh?" I opened my eyes to see Minho grinning up at me from his seated position in the grass.

I stuck out my tongue before turning to Clint, "You checked out Minho's shoulder yet?"

He shook his head and Minho gave me a glare.

"Would you slintheads like to tell me what the hell is going on." Alby's voice boomed across the Glade. I shook my head, I didn't trust my voice yet.

"We left our packs in there. Do something useful and get us some water." Minho winced as Clint unwrapped his shoulder.

Alby kicked him in the leg, earning a glare from Clint, the action was to hard to be playful, "What happened."

"I can barely talk shuck-face," Minho yelled, his voice raw, "Get me some water." Alby turned on his heel and ran back toward the homestead return minutes later with four water bottles. Minho tossed two to me, both of us chugging the first one. I was about to down the second one before Newt plucked it from my grasp.

"I don't want you throwing up all over my shoes again." He let out a soft chuckle and I smiled.

"Now can you shanks tell me what's going on?"

"There's a dead one." Minho said with a grin.

"A dead what?"

I took a step forward.

"A dead Griever."

A/N: Yeah, Yeah, I know its kinda soon for them to be together but there is a method to my madness, Yall just need to wait to find out.


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